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Those who use Mojave with an OpenGL (non-Metal) Video Card in "dark mode" have noticed that global transparencies are working fine, while in "light mode" encountered the "grey" Finder menu bar and sidebars issues, this patch is intended for those who want to use Mojave mainly in "light mode" saving some transparencies around, so here is my "hybrid reduce transparency" patch.

It is totally safe, harmless and reversible, ithas been deeply tested and will 100% work until restart or logout, even after sleep lock screen it will still work.To return with normal "transparency" you can also do that from Accessibility prefpane disabling the "reduce transparency" checkbox.To use this patch just double click on this attached shell "mojavehld.command" and it will launch through Terminal.

[METHOD 2: Force hybrid transparency]If for some reason after that you will still get Dock and Notification Center without "transparencies" then relaunch the mojavehld.command:type 2
type 1
type 4close Terminal (CMD+Q) and any other app previously opened.

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Mine has a totally different purpose, is needed to fix the "grey" Finder menu bar on unsupported Metal GPUs for Mojave "light mode", it enables a "partial transparency reduction" while that link you posted is an applescript for "global transparency reduction".

What leads to claim there is "hybrid transparency" is that, after executing the command to disable transparency, the script only restarts Finder and Spotlight, not the Dock or anything else. However, after a reboot, transparency is completely disabled, as anyone would expect, i.e. white Finder bar, dark Dock, etc.. So the "hybrid transparency" is only effective for as long as you run the script from a system with transparency enabled and you do not reboot.

You need to restore default transparency settings before a reboot or shutdown if you want to enjoy the results of that script again (i.e. you need to either run the script and select option 2, or enter the default write command to set reduction to false or use the Accessibility->Display PrefPane to untick Reduce transparency parameter). All in all, it's nice for a few times but probably rapidly quite annoying to do in the long run.

Example on non-Metal HD3000 system in light mode...

* with default transparency:

* without transparency:

* after executing the script under default transparency mode:

* after rebooting the system without restoring default transparency settings:

So, yes, the trick with Finder brings a nicer look but you have to restore default settings to avoid total loss of transparency on reboot. This would need to be refined through an automated process at boot and restart/shutdown to be properly usable.

What leads to claim there is "hybrid transparency" is that, after executing the command to disable transparency, the script only restarts Finder and Spotlight, not the Dock or anything else. However, after a reboot, transparency is completely disabled, as anyone would expect, i.e. white Finder bar, dark Dock, etc.. So the "hybrid transparency" is only effective for as long as you run the script from a system with transparency enabled and you do not reboot.

You need to restore default transparency settings before a reboot or shutdown if you want to enjoy the results of that script again (i.e. you need to either run the script and select option 2, or enter the default write command to set reduction to false or use the Accessibility->Display PrefPane to untick Reduce transparency parameter). All in all, it's nice for a few times but probably rapidly quite annoying to do in the long run.

Example on non-Metal HD3000 system in light mode...

* with default transparency:

* without transparency:

* after executing the script under default transparency mode:

* after rebooting the system without restoring default transparency settings:

So, yes, the trick with Finder brings a nicer look but you have to restore default settings to avoid total loss of transparency on reboot. This would need to be refined through an automated process at boot and restart/shutdown to be properly usable.

I did already tried to create an automated process in this way:

creating a mojavehld.plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons/ to execute a script before shutdown and startup

creating a mojavehld.sh in /Library/LaunchDaemons/ to execute the script to keep the "hybrid transparency"

pointing the mojavehld.plist to the mojavehld.sh

sudo chown 0:0 /Library/LaunchDaemons/mojavehld.plist

sudo chown 0:0 /Library/LaunchDaemons/mojavehld.sh

sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/mojavehld.plist

One little issue I've encountered is that I've to consider to edit this file before the loginwindow:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.universalaccess.plist

In Mojave this is not in plaintext but binary encoded, so it will result a bit invasive for most users.

For now I believe that the script I did on the main post is a good workaround for those who want to use a temporary "light mode" until a reboot of course, and even if a bit uncomfortable, relaunching the script after a restart to me is not a drama.

Edited September 19, 2018 by jackluke

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i was encouraged and I love command line stuff - but then got less excited for the future of my HD3000 system... as this seems to (almost) do what System Preferences/Accessibility/Display "Reduce Transparency" does? I say almost as the GUI enables and updates the full gamut of objects.

by the way, i wish i knew what one needs to restart via command line to get immediate effect...

as I was trying to figure out how to switch from Light Mode to Dark Mode via command line so I could turn it on/off via a schedule.

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i was encouraged and I love command line stuff - but then got less excited for the future of my HD3000 system... as this seems to (almost) do what System Preferences/Accessibility/Display "Reduce Transparency" does? I say almost as the GUI enables and updates the full gamut of objects.

by the way, i wish i knew what one needs to restart via command line to get immediate effect...

as I was trying to figure out how to switch from Light Mode to Dark Mode via command line so I could turn it on/off via a schedule.

Yes, I have exploited the "reduce transparency" Accessibility feature discovering that doing it from Terminal until you don't relaunch Finder.app or Dock.app (I mean the CoreServices app) the GUI will keep a partial transparency, it's not a long run patch however it works and totally harmless for the system.

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Here is my original method "translated" into an AppleScript so anyone can put it on Automator and it will do the trick switching between a full translucent "dark mode" and a semi-translucent "light mode":

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Here is my original method "translated" into an AppleScript so anyone can put it on Automator and it will do the trick switching between a full translucent "dark mode" and a semi-translucent "light mode":

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Try the app I posted here. It's based on Jackluke's work and only applies to Light mode. It does nothing in Dark mode. It's created in Automator from the provided script. But maybe you don't know how to use the tool...

Edited November 4, 2018 by Hervé

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Mine has a totally different purpose, is needed to fix the "grey" Finder menu bar on unsupported Metal GPUs for Mojav﻿e "light mode", it enables a "partial transparency reduction" while that link you posted is an applescript for "global transparency reduction".

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I don't know if anybody else has come across the issue, however upon installing this patch some third party applications such as Chrome made the menubar go back to it's broken state. I found out that it was because Chrome was still seeing the system as being in dark mode, and had adjusted its interface accordingly. To fix this, I wrote a small applescript program to force applications like chrome to act as they would in light theme.

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I don't know if anybody else has come across the issue, however upon installing this patch some third party applications such AudacityFind My iPhoneOrigin as Chrome made the menubar go back to it's broken state. I found out that it was because Chrome was still seeing the system as being in dark mode, and had adjusted its interface accordingly. To fix this, I wrote a small applescript program to force applications like chrome to act as they would in light theme.

transparency﻿is completely disabled, as anyone would expect, i.e. white Finder bar, dark Dock, etc.. So the "hybrid transparency" is only effective for as long as you run the script from a system with transparency enabled and you do not reboot.

This is perfect! While I did plan to make a slight change, I am more interested in tying this into the "Light Mode / Dark Mode Preference Panes" using this script as a event trigger as apposed to using this as a Login Item (check box Hidden). I'll see what I can do today.

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